Comments on: Do We Really Have to See ‘Casual’ Dug Up Again?https://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 00:38:21 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: bigbearbutthttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58434
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:06:11 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58434If you were to replace ‘casual’, which is more a reference to how much time someone spends playing, and were to replace it with the word ‘inexperienced’, then miracle of miracles, it would be a fine sentiment.

I know just what you mean, Chawa. I do indeed. Perception is an insidious thing.

I came back to reread this post because I saw a blue post using the term “casual” today. The exact words were by Zarhym and were in reference to the current level of heroics: “They’re not super-unfriendly toward casual players, but they do require casual players to exercise skill and proper social/leadership skills.”

Ouch. Even out of the mouths of Blues. It’s sad.

Take the word “casual” out of the above statement and then I’ll agree with it…

]]>By: bigbearbutthttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58432
Sat, 25 Dec 2010 07:24:22 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58432I get that you disagree and you’re angry, but I’ll be honest. I have absolutely no idea how what anything you said related to anything I said in the post.

I’ll cut to the chase. My point was that casual does not automatically mean “has no skill”. If you completely disagree, then you DO believe that casual means no skill?

If that’s not what you’re saying, then why not fall back and take 5, figure out what has infuriated you so much, and then decide if what has you so angry is a position I put forward that you’re disagreeing with, or if you’re angry at something else entirely?

Either way… if you’re this pissed on Christmas because you think other people suck and it’s not fair you have to play with them or something, you need to take a deep breath, man. Relax. It’s just a game. Go play Pong, you know?

COMPLETELY disagree. CAN WE PLEASE STOP WITH THE SKILL COMPARES??? Please

NET NET – It does not matter about “skill” of individual contributors. What matters is the skill level and impact of your weakest member.

You were in the military. I dare say that you observed from time to time that they appeared to (in the main) make things idiot proof.
Most military ops I have experience with DO NOT rely on the relative skill/expertise of your average recruit coming in from AIT.

BUT… with LFG you automatically have that. By pressing that button you have traded WOW for another game called “who’s the weakest link?”.
It is not the objective difficulty (HP, Damage, Fight Mechanics etc) that is kicking everyone’s bear butt right now. It is the coordination of all the moving parts.

In essence Blizz has taken the Direct Frontal Assault strategy out of Heroics. What they meant to do was make heroics more difficult. But what they ended up with forcing Two Stripers to perform tactical flanking and feint moves that might well make Generals pause. Generals would really pause if they were told that they could not “speak” with any of their team members too.

So what are we left with? We could do the following:
Add a Healer (ala Gevlon) and put the onus back on DPS like Wrath
Add Vent (ala top guild) and spend mo money, and heroics will have “vent required” now
Add Guild Only Heroics (ala velvet rope) so now I need to coordinate schedules for 5 friends to run heroics with

OR you could just keep beating heads against walls until Blizz/Ghostcrawler notice the masses NO LIKE what they did to Heroics. (I call 4.0.5 they buff heals 25% AND nerf stupid trash like Stonecold)

When I think “Casual” player I usually think of “no raid schedule” player. BBB I don’t have the TIME to screw with planning to play A GAME. If it takes me 30 minutes to COORDINATE a decent Heroic run… I ain’t gonna do it. I would like to hit my LFG button wait to queue with 4 others who also want to do a heroic and HAVE A REASONABLE EXPECTATION of competing said LFG random.

It’s called a GAME fitting within a busy professional’s time schedule. AND because I know there are more of me than there are of the EJ’s or the lolkids I KNOW Blizz will get a clue eventually and fix this crap. Because I and other professionals like me have mucho money but little time. And last time I looked Blizzard was in the business of making money.

]]>By: Barixhttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58430
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:48:50 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58430Linked above is a Barix-wall (sorry) response to this entry, as to say everything I wanted to say was just too long for a comment section. Short version: I’m largely on the same page with BBB, but I chose a higher-profile target than Fox Van Allen as my incarnation of the attitude in question.

]]>By: Xewhttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58429
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:06:07 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58429I’ve never used the term casual, except as it pertains to our guild – which is a casual raiding guild. We did ICC, got our Kingslayer titles a week into 4.0.1, and still rolled with it, doing 10 mans once a week – that’s pretty casual, for raiding.

I do use the term ‘idiot’ quite a lot. I’ve been healing heroics on my tree for a week now. As I’ve gotten better gear (typically faction gear as I level up with tabards), it’s gotten easier. I was in a guild run yesterday with a hunter who was 1 point shy of running heroics. We queued a normal, got Lost City… I happened to be tanking this one (yay bear!), and marked what I could – we had 2 hunters and a DK for “CC”… so I called for ice traps. My favorite hunter in the world hit her marks perfectly, every time. Mr Enthusiasm “I wanna do HEROICS!” (think of Satherion’s voice – ‘your magic BETRAYS you’ – that’s what he sounded like) couldn’t hit his mark for anything, so I ended up having to tank a third add, that was typically a caster – so dragging the melee guys all over hells half acre (I ended up apologizing to the poor DK who’s dps was low because he had to run with me). On top of that, this over enthusiastic hunter would ‘accidently’ – seriously, I doubt he had the brain cells to do it on purpose – target outlying groups and shoot them… so I’m dealing with tanking 3 mobs, and here come 5 more – with no CC on them at all… My poor healer… (Yay bear! we’re so mighty!) Thank god it was a normal – on heroic, we’d of been eating paving stones for sure.

That guy? That guy got called many names. Idiot was one of them. Afterwards, he bought a BoE gun off the AH, tipping him over the magical (and imo, low) gear score mark to do heroics. He immediately started calling out in guild chat “Anyone wanna do a random heroic.?” /facepalm.

I’m happy to run groups, I’m happy to work out tactics on bosses, I’m willing to spend 4 hours faceslamming into content… but I draw the line at idiots who are taking away from my experience to learn how to play their class. Dungeons are to learn the fights, not how to trap. Go practice trap shooting on your own time…

]]>By: bigbearbutthttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58428
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:32:45 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58428“you don’t have to step on someone to raise yourself to a new level”

]]>By: yunkhttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58427
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:17:59 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58427It’s gotten crazy over there. There was another thread about how heroics don’t have low level epics anymore, because you should have to “really work” for the purple SHARDS. Because no matter how hard heroics are they are still not “work” in their eyes unless you do it with 24 other people. In one sentence someone says they are too hard, then in the next sentence the same person is implying they are too easy because it’s not a raid, and non raiders shouldn’t even get purple shards. It’s so ridiculous. I’ve raided, been on the progression raids, it’s doesn’t make me awesome, it just meant I had more time.

]]>By: RiegnManhttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58426
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:51:16 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58426My opinion on the matter is that when it’s all said and done, we have to realize the mentality of the other players. The kind of people who still believe that you have to belittle someone or run someone down to make yourself look better. The kind of people that don’t have the life experience to understand that you don’t have to step on someone to raise yourself to a new level. I mean, really, what’s the point in being 1337 if you don’t have a scrub to talk about? Why be on top if there isn’t someone below you?
Don’t get me wrong, I have been in positions when I’ve said “you know what, this guy sucks so badly that someone needs to confiscate his logon credentials”. There are people that truly suck at the game. Just last night I was tanking Reg Halls of Origination and there was a mage that was completely clueless about how to play his toon. Lvl 84 and doing something like 1700dps.
The run started out with a whisper from him letting me know that he was playing his sisters account ’cause he couldn’t afford to buy cataclysm for his account yet and that he realized that he would not top the DPS lists. The entire run was spent in whispers from him while he proceeded to tell me how he was just going to make his dad buy him cata and make his “Moms buy him a celly and buy his Boo something nice too.” Then I was enlightened with this nugget of wisdom, “my Boo is dis gurl I FUKC around wit. She be DAM HOT!!!!!!!!!!”

I am a casual player. I quit raiding last december because I got tired of catching crap because I didn’t devote the 6 hours on Tuesday and the 5 hours on Thursday like the other core raiders did. When you are expected to be there 10-12 hours a week at least at the same time every week it’s not a game. That’s a part time job. A job that has sucky pay, BTW.
I have a wife, 5 kids and a REAL job that demand my time. Responsibilities to a virtual world populated by large number of idiots does not rank that high. . .

I have a feeling that a lot of these “Leet” players are living their lives vicariously through the toon on the screen. When they log off, they go back to the life where they are not as important and people don’t greet them when they enter a room.

]]>By: Kaleeshhttps://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/12/22/do-we-really-have-to-see-casual-dug-up-again/comment-page-1/#comment-58425
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:37:49 +0000http://thebigbearbutt.com/?p=3736#comment-58425My personal theory is that the whole ‘casual’ thing is a spillover from console games, but people need to realize that the two really don’t mean the same thing. Casual console gamers are the ones that just play Wii Sports and all that jazz and would faint at the thought of Metroid Prime, Casual WoW players simply invest slightly less time in the game. That’s just my two cents.